Article Contributed by Big Hassle Media
Published on 2026-09-03
Big Benny Bailey, the duo formed by Shamir Bailey and Ben Pierce, have announced their debut album, Business Spice, arriving September 18 via Thirty Tigers. Today, the duo offer another preview of the record with the new single “Bottom of a Grave.” Blending bluegrass instrumentation with indie songwriting, grunge influences, pop culture references and brutally honest lyricism, Business Spice introduces a fresh and unapologetically playful voice to modern roots music.
Across the album, Big Benny Bailey use mandolin, fiddle and close vocal harmonies to explore anxiety, depression, romantic disappointment and resilience, often with enough dark humor to make the hardest moments feel unexpectedly joyful.
This is not indie rock dressed up with banjos, nor is it an exercise in preserving bluegrass exactly as it has always been played. Instead, Big Benny Bailey expands the genre’s possibilities, pairing traditional musicianship with sardonic wit, internet-era references and the perspective of two veteran artists finding a new creative language together.
The duo began almost by accident. In December 2021, Bailey opened two nights for Stars at New York City’s Le Poisson Rouge with a set of unreleased folk songs, marking a departure from the indie-pop sound that had defined much of their decade-long career. Although the audience immediately embraced the material, Bailey believed the songs might never be released after an intended collaboration failed to materialize.
The collection found a second life through Pierce, a punk-turned-Americana musician who had spent a decade performing with Roger Harvey. Bailey and Pierce had struck up a casual friendship while Bailey was a regular at the Philadelphia diner where Pierce worked. In February 2022, Pierce sent Bailey a message offering to play guitar. Bailey responded by asking whether he liked Americana, unaware of his background in the genre, and sent over the unreleased demos. Pierce became obsessed with the songs, listening repeatedly before the two met for sandwiches at Philadelphia’s Middle Child. Their contrasting voices immediately locked together, and Big Benny Bailey, named by combining their names, was born.
Produced by former Lonely Heartstring Band member Patrick M’Gonigle, Business Spice features contributions from Reed Stutz, Sami Braman and Morgan Blaney. The album channels the duo’s shared love of roots music while leaving room for grunge, indie rock, contemporary pop and online culture, complete with Charli XCX references, romantic disasters and anxiety attacks during Uber rides.
Since forming, Big Benny Bailey have joined Julien Baker and TORRES on their 2025 tour, opened for Sarah Shook & the Disarmers and built a devoted TikTok and Instagram following through their exceptional melodies, matching crocheted outfits and candid, sardonic humor. Through their poignant and multiracial perspective, Bailey and Pierce join a new generation of musicians broadening the sound, audience and cultural identity of Americana. Business Spice honors the emotional directness and instrumental foundations of bluegrass while refusing to treat tradition as a boundary. The result is an album about creative reinvention, unexpected friendship and finding reasons to keep going, even when spite is one of them.
Business Spice is out September 18 via Thirty Tigers.
Business Spice Tracklist
1. Complexities of Man
2. Ain’t No Getting Rid of Me Yet
3. Bottom of a Grave
4. Unscathed
5. Mr. Uber Driver
6. The Best is Yet to Come
7. Cowboy (Can't Let Go)
8. Cigarettes
9. Wrong Generation
10. Whiskey
Upcoming Shows
08/22: Philadelphia, PA - Sweet Juice Fest
11/04: Baltimore, MD - Le Mondo
11/13: Thorndike, ME - Farwell General
12/08: Los Angeles, CA - Heavy Manners Library
ABOUT BIG BENNY BAILEY: Big Benny Bailey is the new bluegrass and Americana duo formed by indie artist Shamir Bailey and musician Ben Pierce. Their partnership began after Pierce heard a collection of folk songs Bailey had never expected to release and became determined to help bring them to life. Combining Bailey’s dark humor and emotionally direct songwriting with Pierce’s roots-music background, the duo creates an unconventional form of bluegrass shaped equally by tradition, indie rock, grunge, pop culture and internet-era wit. Big Benny Bailey have toured with Julien Baker and TORRES, opened for Sarah Shook & the Disarmers and developed a growing audience on TikTok. Their debut album, Business Spice, was produced by Patrick M’Gonigle and arrives September 18 via Thirty Tigers.
